Somalia alongside Arab countries walk out of Africa-Arab Summit, protest Polisario presence
Somalia, alongside Morocco and six other Arab countries Wednesday walked out of the 4th Africa- Arab Summit in Equatorial Guinea protesting the presence of a faction which has been championing the self determination of the Western Sahara.
Morocco which led the walk out is reported to have been irked by the presence of Polisario Front delegates whose quest for independence to form the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has been a subject of contest for several decades.
The Moroccan delegation took the decision to protest “the presence of the emblem of a puppet entity in the meeting rooms”, the Moroccan foreign ministry said, quoted by the Moroccan news agency MAP.
Other countries that walked out include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Jordan and Yemen
Egypt came under attack by Morocco after it hosted five Polisario members October in marking the country’s 150th anniversary.
Morocco maintains that Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony under its control, is an integral part of the kingdom, while the Polisario Front, which campaigns for the territory’s independence, demands a referendum on self-determination.
The Moroccan delegation quit the one-day summit in Malabo as Rabat is attempting to rejoin the African Union which it left in 1984 — when it was then called the Organisation of African Unity — to protest the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic declared by the Polisario.
In 1991, the United Nations brokered a ceasefire between the two sides.
But a promised referendum to settle the status of the vast desert territory home to half a million people has yet to materialise.
Morocco’s latest move was criticised on Equatorial Guinea’s Africa 24 network, which is close to the government.
“Morocco has partnerships with Central Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa. We cannot allow such a blow”, said one commentator.
The UN mission, known as MINURSO, is tasked with monitoring a ceasefire reached in September 1991 and organising a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara.
Goobjoog News and Agencies